WKCR 89.9FM NY

Tune in to Afternoon New Music this Tuesday, April 26th at 3 pm for an exclusive in-studio and set with drummer/composer Ches Smith. The 50-minute program will feature Smith playing a solo set in-studio at WKCR, as well as discussing his recent projects, including his new album The Bell.

Join us on Friday, April 29th as we celebrate the 117th anniversary of the birth of Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, one of the most significant figures in the history of jazz. His innovations in orchestration and composition have informed much of the development of the music. Originally from Washington DC, he moved to New York City where, in 1927, he began his tenure at the Cotton Club. It was there that he rose to international stardom.

TONIGHT at 10pm: Live Constructions presents a live interview with Austrian composer Beat Furrer and Michel Galante, artistic director of Argento New Music Project and never before heard recordings of the composer's music. The two will discuss Furrer's upcoming Composer Portrait at Carnegie Hall, Zankel Hall highlighting his exploration of the human voice and instrumental sounds: a WORLD PREMIERE featuring soprano Tony Arnold and trombonist Tim Albright; two electrifying works for chamber ensemble; and a dramatic work for large chamber orchestra, narrated by the composer himself.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music on Monday, April 25, to hear an exclusive in-studio interview with New York-based guitarist, composer, and visual artist Michael Hafftka. Topics of discussion will include Hafftka's graphic scores and the interplay between his art and music as well as outside influences, future projects and more.

Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka has become one of the most acclaimed interpreters of the music by Richard Strauss and Wagner. A former ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera, she has been bestowed such honorary titles as Kammersängerin by the Austrian government, as well as an Officer of the Order of Canada. She is currently appearing as Chrysothemis in the late Patrice Chéreau's legendary staging of Elektra at the Metropolitan Opera, a production that she has been a part of since its ecstatic premiere in Aix-en-Provence in 2013.

On Friday, April 22nd 2016 at 12:00 AM, WKCR will celebrate the birth of one of the great innovators of American music, bassist and composer Charles Mingus. He was able to accomplish what so many of today's musicians strive for: his music was always original, transcending genre boundaries yet always remaining deeply rooted in the jazz tradition. Early in his career, he performed with such greats as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Lionel Hampton.

On Wednesday, we are excited to invite saxophonist Steve Slagle to the station for an exclusive interview. "Steve Slagle was born in Los Angeles, California where he got his first saxophone and later attended Berklee College of Music in Boston on a DownBeat scholarship. One of his first gigs, at the age of 18, was in the Stevie Wonder Band, in Boston. Berklee is also where he met many musicians from all over the world whom he still remains close with.

Armenian soprano Lianna Haroutounian has caused an international stir since her sudden debut at the Royal Opera House in 2013, when she replaced star soprano Anja Harteros as Elisabetta in Don Carlo. Earning rave reviews, she has quickly established herself as one of the world's premiere lyrico spintos, making major company debuts everywhere from Zurich to Sydney. This Saturday, Ms.

WKCR will preempt all regular programming from noon to midnight on Friday, April 15th in order to celebrate the life and work of composer, violinist and minimalist pioneer Tony Conrad, who passed away on Saturday, April 9th, 2016 at the age of 76.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music at 3:00 PM on Wednesday, April 13th, to hear an exclusive in-studio interview with three musicians whose work is featured in this year’s MATA Festival in New York City: pianist Heloisa Amaral, percussionist Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen, and composer and saxophonist Helen Papaioannou. The two-hour program will explore the unique composition style of Papaioannou, whose work was selected for the festival out of over 1100 submissions from around the world, the music and methods of Ensemble neoN, a group out of Oslo making their U.S.

Omer Simeon (b. 1902) was one of the most important clarinetists in the New Orleans idiom, and his discography is a great avenue for hearing some of the hottest jazz recordings of the 1920s due to his presence on sessions with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers and King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators. He left his mark on such masterpiece records as “Black Bottom Stomp,” “Dr.

We are very excited to invite Connie Crothers to the station for an exclusive show - don't miss it! "As performer and recording artist, Connie releases her deepest feeling—her source—into the music, creating a wide range of expression and a virtuosity which is based on her desire to discover everything she can hear and imagine through spontaneous improvisation."

For more information about Ms. Crothers: http://www.conniecrothers.net/

Tune in to Afternoon New Music at 3 pm on Tuesday, April 5th for an exclusive in-studio interview and set with saxophonist/composer Aaron Burnett. The hour-long program will feature Aaron discussing his group Aaron Burnett and the Big Machine, as well as his upcoming gig with Kimberly Thompson Quartet at the Cell Theatre on April 16th. The program will conclude with a short free improvisation from Aaron Burnett on tenor saxophone, performed in-studio at WKCR.

Do not miss the chance to join us as we invite Gerald Clayton, 4-time Grammy nominee jazz pianist, to the studio for an exclusive live show. "Over the course of eight years, with three albums as a leader, several studio projects as a sideman, and countless worldwide performances, pianist and composer Gerald Clayton has established himself as a leading figure in the up-and-coming generation of jazz artists who are fluent in the range of styles that make up today´s jazz lexicon.

*NOTE: ONLY DURING JAZZ PROGRAMS*

WKCR Jazz mourns the loss of esteemed latin jazz saxophonist Gato Barbieri, who left us on Saturday, April 2nd, at age 83. Join us as our jazz programmers spend the coming days celebrating the boundless breadth of his achievements.

In a very special appearance. the master percussionist V. Selvaganesh will be joining us live on Raag Aur Taal. Sunday April Born in Chennai to Grammy-winning musician Vikku Vinayakram, a former member of the original Shakti, he is the grandson of T. R. Harihara Sarma, who founded the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya (Sri JGTV school) in Chenna

In a very special appearance. the master percussionist V. Selvaganesh will be joining us live on Raag Aur Taal. Sunday April Born in Chennai to Grammy-winning musician Vikku Vinayakram, a former member of the original Shakti, he is the grandson of T. R. Harihara Sarma, who founded the Sri Jaya Ganesh Tala Vadya Vidyalaya (Sri JGTV school) in Chenna

Tune in to Afternoon New Music at 3 pm on Wednesday, March 30 for an exclusive in-studio interview with William Hooker. The program will contain a 1-hour interview focusing on EVIDENCE: The Baldwin Suite, his multimedia tribute to novelist and activist James Baldwin. EVIDENCE: The Baldwin Suite will be at Roulette on Friday, April 1st at 8:00 pm.

Malik Izaak Taylor, better known as Phife Dawg, the Five Foot Assassin, and Dynomutt, born November 20, 1970, passed away this Tuesday. He was a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest with his high school friends Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Mohammed. Acclaimed as one of the greatest and most influential hip hop acts of all time, A Tribe Called Quest, along with other members of the Native Tongues collective, pushed the art of sampling towards a greater eclecticism, with a more pronounced jazz influence, while advancing a positive, Afrocentric lyrical philosophy.

For over thirty years, mezzo-soprano Waltraud Meier has taken the opera world by storm with the role of the mysterious Kundry in Richard Wagner's Parsifal. It is a role that she has arguably owned like no other singer to this day. This week, she sings her final performances of the role in Berlin, and, to mark the occasion, this year's annual Parsifal broadcast over Easter weekend will be a live 2005 performance from Vienna.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music today at 5 pm for an exclusive interview with violist Hannah Levinson of violin/viola duo andPlay. andPlay will be performing at Roulette on Tuesday, March 22nd at 8:00 pm to kick off the String Orchestra of Brooklyn's String Theories festival. andPlay will be performing works by Robert Honstein, Nicholas DeMaison, Fjola Evans, Peter Kramer, and Kristopher Svensson.

Benjamin Sheen (Acting Director of Music at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue) and countertenor Patrick Fennig stop by Wednesday, March 16th's Cereal Music program at 11:00 AM to discuss their upcoming performance of the New York Premiere of Seven Last Words from the Cross by James MacMillan. A masterful compilation of the traditional text based on all four gospels, this work is a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ. On Friday, March 18th at 7:30 PM David Hill conducts the Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys and Orchestra of St.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music this Monday, March 14th at 3 pm for an exclusive in-studio interview with Uri Caine and Jenny Lin. The 50-minute program will Caine and Lin discussing their new joint album The Spirio Sessions, plus a number of recordings from the new album.

Renowned conductor and pioneer of historically informed performance practice, Nikolaus Harnoncourt passed away on March 5th 2016 at the age of 86. WKCR Classical will be pre-empting all regular WKCR programming for a full 24 hours on Friday March 11th (12:00 AM to 11:59 PM) to devote our airwaves exclusively to a memorial broadcast in honor of Nikolaus Harnoncourt. The memorial broadcast will feature recordings of Harnoncourt as a conductor and cellist, interviews with Harnoncourt himself as well as with his colleagues.

Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni has quickly established himself as one of the greatest Mozart singers of our time. At the Metropolitan Opera, he has become an audience favorite through his performances as Leporello, Figaro, and even the monstrous Caliban in The Enchanted Island. This month, Pisaroni returns to the Metropolitan Opera in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, this time as the lascivious Count Almaviva.

Tune in to WKCR 89.9 FM NY on Thursday, March 10th as we dedicate a full day of programming to celebrate the anniversary of Bix Beiderbecke’s birthday.

On Wednesday, March 9th, WKCR 89.9 FM will dedicate a full day of programming to celebrate the birthday of Ornette Coleman, legendary founder of free jazz, who passed away last summer.

Tune in to Live Constructions at 10 pm on Sunday, March 6th for an exclusive in-studio set with Leila Bordreuil, Michael Foster and Weasel Walter. The show will feature a 45-minute free improv set with Leila Bordreuil on cello, Michael Foster on saxophones and Weasel Walter on drums.

Tune in to Afternoon New Music at 3 pm on Tuesday, March 1st for an exclusive interview with Ana-Maria Avram. Born in Bucharest, Romania in 1961, composer Ana-Maria Avram’s propulsive music often synthesizes electroacoustic and instrumental sources. While informed by mathematical techniques, Avram is drawn to the dynamic nature of sound as independently shaped by each performer and listener. “Even if something is written, what is this, there on the score?” she asks. “A base from which to fly away.”